Worcester man accused of touching girl in aisle at Walmart in Oxford

OXFORD — A 32-year-old Worcester man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to assault charges in connection with a complaint that he twice touched a 14-year-old girl's buttocks at Walmart on Aug. 5.

Video surveillance viewed by police also showed the man touching at least three women in a similar manner as claimed by the teen, police said.

According to police, John K. O'Neill of 590 Main St., Apt. 411, admitted he touched two and possibly three women at the store and told investigators he "knew what he did was wrong and provided the excuse he might have been horny."

He is charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older. Mr. O'Neill posted $200 bail. The case was continued to Sept. 9.

The teen and her family had been shopping at the store and told police a man walked by her and his hand grazed her rear. She said she thought it was an accident. But the man walked by her a second time and she felt his hand graze her buttocks again, she told police.

The girl told her sister when they got home and the sister called the store and Charlton police. The family went to the Oxford police the next day.

The girl described the man to police and the video surveillance footage showed Mr. O'Neill in the store matching the girl's description.

A store security employee was "unable to get surveillance from the aisle" where the alleged assaults against the teen had occurred, but the video showed Mr. O'Neill walk through the store and come in contact with three other women, the report said.

He was seen putting his hand on a woman in the cosmetics aisle and he brushed his hand against the rear end of another woman who was holding a small child, police said.

On Monday, police got a call from the store that the suspect had returned to Walmart. When later questioned by police, Mr. O'Neill admitted he was the man in the images and said he touched the first girl by accident, but went back to the same girl and deliberately touched her.

He said he agreed what he had done was wrong, and couldn't explain why he touched her the second time.